The sore jaw. The blood. The pain. I don’t know if this happens when a wisdom teeth is normally extracted. I think it’d be like any other tooth, bloody but normal after a few hours. But these impacted bastards, man, are hell.

Today was my first time getting one of my wisdom teeth extracted. extracted is unfair, it’s more of “broken up and pulled out”. That’s what I get for having an impacted wisdom tooth. Thanks Darwin. I’m sure if God made humans, he’d fix this flaw.

The drill and extraction wasn’t so bad. The sounds were gruesome. Crack! Crack! I really didn’t know what to expect. Until I was told that the tooth was split in three, and pulled out. Slightly in joy, to see the thing destroy itself. Having half my left side numb, all I could feel was pressure. Extreme pressure when pulling the tooth out, and then bleeding. I can’t really feel bleeding, but you can sense it.

Now, after some antibiotics and 1 generic Tylenol, I’m feeling the side effects. Can’t swallow my saliva, because the jaw hurts to move. Swollen, and somewhat still bleeding. I have resorted to dribbling out my saliva, which is not an environmentally conscious course of action. Went through one box of tissues! But to ease my pain, trees can die.

I don’t know what to eat. Tried ice cream, but it’s hard to swallow, and hurts to swallow. Had nothing else, and I am assuming water is going to be a pain to drink. But that is probably all I can consume until this bleeding stops. I hate blood. Especially when I can’t seem to stop it. The saliva has tiny… never mind.

The lesson: if you’re ever thinking of removing a wisdom tooth, do it early. If you’re lucky, you can have it extracted just like any normal tooth. Less pain, less fuss. If you’re unlucky like me, join the club of impactees.

Thank the miracles of medicine, because pain relievers allow me to go on the Internet without fainting. Or unbearable pain. Too bad it doesn’t make me full. I could go for some real food right now.

Edit:

Be alseep when you’re going through the operation. I was awake, and man, it’s like the movie where the guy is dead but still mentally conscious and sees people do stuff to this body. Did that guy feel pain? I don’t know, I never saw the whole movie. But pulling out teeth weakens my knees.

The first day is probably the worst. I feared blood coming out of my mouth. A little bit of blood makes saliva red. Even a tiny, tiny bit. Remember that. I freaked everytime I saw red. The gauze didn’t turn white, so that first day I didn’t eat anything. Too afraid to unclot something and bleed to death.

Second day, it makes all the difference. Take some pain-relievers, the antibiotics, and sleep. I think I removed the gauze now, but still had some red. Paranoia again, and I believe I only ate mashed potatoes that day.

Third day, I don’t remember. But blood did stop. Hooray! But I still didn’t really eat. Can’t unclot! Can’t unclot!

Fourth day, I was eating. How you appreciate food when you really want it.

Currently (weeks after), the back of my jaw feels “empty”. Is it that phantom teeth syndrome? I can’t eat well, because there’s a big damn gapping hole in the back where I chew. And if I look in, I see a little vortex of blackness. Creepy…

Update 7/8/08:

Got a normal wisdom tooth removed. 2 big ones down, now hoping the top ones don’t grow. It’s not impacted, and hell, the extraction hurt less than the drilling and whatever they do to get the teeth loose.

I bled, but the gauze got me angry. Put it in a few times, said fuck it and just went without it. Ice, antibiotics, and acetaminophen. Some people say you shouldn’t use acetaminophen or the painkillers because it thins the blood. Well, the choice is to bleed and suffer in pain, or bleed and feel relaxed. I chose the latter. Who would prefer the first?

If you ice well, you can eat. Soft, soft foods, which ideally should be in paste or liquid form. Currently, I feel good. No more painkillers because there’s no major pain. Still sore, but I can swallow my saliva without issues. Still some blood, but that might be dried blood or leftover ice cream undissolved somewhere.

Update 3/17/09:

My upper-jaw wisdom tooth on the left side seems to be popping out. But as anticipated, it’s impacted. 2 down, 1 more to go after this week.

Update 7/27/09:

Everything is out. Surprisingly, the last upper-right one only took 10 minutes. It took longer for the prescription to fill than the actual extraction. And luckily, there isn’t a lot of pain today nor blood. But I might just be used tthe whole process.

To recap:

It’s normal to have blood in your saliva for at least a few days after. It’s a wound and takes time to heal. A little drop of blood will turn your saliva red. Don’t panic, don’t freak out. The lower-jaw wisdom teeth are going to hurt more because it’s rooted deeper than the upper ones. It’ll hurt your jaw when extracted, and you’ll swallow with some pain/weirdness for a few days. No big deal unless it’s rooted so deep that it affects some nerves when uprooted.

Avoid extremely hot/cold drinks. Drink room-temperature. Don’t use straws as they can dislodge the blood clot that’s protecting you from pain and infection. Don’t brush the area in the first few days (personal opinion): use a mouthwash and swish around the liquid. Don’t gargle, as it could dislodge the blood clot. Don’t eat things that require chewing the first few days. Soft foods for the first few days until the area is mostly healed. Try to avoid things that can lodge themselves in the hole. Foreign debris suck.

I personally don’t think that ice helps. It reduces swelling, but every other sensation is still there.

If you have any questions, post a comment and I’ll try to provide some information. I hate to leave people without answers to their urgent questions.

Found this really useful i only had 1 moler out Friday and they couldnt get the tooth out it took 2dentists 2hrs to get the tooth out after drilling the tooth to bits and to top it i had 3wonky roots had to go bk fri nite as still bleeding and in alot of pain then really sick sat throwing up went to hospital sun as throut relly sore then got rushed to hospital by ambalance as throut really swollon couldn’t breath or swollow so it was really scary

Even if we don’t get full-body universal healthcare coverage, I hope dental is a big part of the common benefits. General extractions and corrections aside, so much can happen from a nice smile and of course plenty lost through an embarrassing one.